New Chinese restaurant in Northbridge hinges on town meeting OK

Monday

Jan 13, 2014 at 5:46 PMJan 13, 2014 at 11:03 PM

By Donna Boynton TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

NORTHBRIDGE — Most people in the Blackstone Valley know the building that sits in the crook of Linwood Avenue and Providence Road (Route 122) as the China Pacific, some may remember it as the Depot Lounge, and to historians, it is the former train station known as Whitinsville Station.

The building is a landmark, and has sat empty since the China Pacific restaurant closed in 2011 when owner Tommy Lee retired.

Now, a new restaurateur has emerged, with a plan to open a new restaurant there called New China Pacific.

But one thing Jackie Lee, the new manager and owner under New China Pacific LLC, hadn't planned on was a bit of fine print in the zoning, dating back to 1967, that says if the building is not used as a restaurant for more than two years, that use is revoked.

Tuesday night, voters will be asked at a two-article special town meeting to extend the nearby business zone to include the land on which the restaurant sits, thereby removing it from the industrial zone it is currently in, which prohibits restaurants.

The special town meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Northbridge Middle School auditorium on Linwood Avenue. A quorum of 50 voters is required to act on the warrant.

Henry Lane, who represents the current owner, Tommy Lee, in the zoning matter, said Jackie Lee is not willing to close on the purchase of the property unless the zoning is changed.

Selectmen approved the transfer of the liquor license in September, said Robert Knapik, the lawyer representing the new owner. The licenses had been transferred, but the zoning problem was identified in the closing.

Mr. Lane said the building was the train depot known as Whitinsville Station, back when trains ran to the Whitinsville section of town. In 1967, the land was zoned for industrial uses and a restaurant was put in there as a non-conforming use through a variance.

"Under the zoning bylaws now, if you have a non-conforming use and you stop using it as such for two years, you lose the non-conforming use grandfathering," Mr. Lane explained. "Nobody was watching for it. It was somewhat obscure. It's been a restaurant for so long, no one thought about it."

The grandfathering expired in July.

"We didn't realize it until they tried to reopen in October and learned the grandfathering expired a couple months ago," Mr. Lane explained. "They technically can't operate as a restaurant any longer. In order to solve that problem, we have to change the zoning from industrial to business."

Essentially, voters will be asked to extend the business district — which encompasses Foxy Travel across Providence Road and Brian's Restaurant, which is practically behind the property — to include the old China Pacific building.

"What we are doing is just rotating or pivoting the zoning line. It's not a new zone; it's just an expansion of the existing Linwood business zone," Mr. Lane said.

If the zoning change is approved by town meeting, it must then be approved by the attorney general's office. The attorney general has three months to make a decision.

Mr. Knapik said the restaurant can be open in a few months if the zoning is approved, following renovations. Mr. Knapik said Jackie Lee has experience operating five previous Chinese food restaurants and this will be his only restaurant, once open.

Contact Donna Boynton at Donna.Boynton@telegram.com or follow her on Twitter @DonnaBoyntonTG